Watch Him Please
by LoganAlpha30
Summary: A possible explanation of what happened to Ron during his earlier days at Shell Cottage as Bill tells Hermione all about it...to Ron's chagrin...leaving Hermione to give Ron a piece of her mind...


**WATCH HIM PLEASE**

 **Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters.**

Shell Cottage-Morning

The small cottage sat just off the waves in a small inlet, protected from the sea by a band of formidable cliffs and sand dunes. Because of all of the charms and protections that had been placed on the home for the trio it was probably the safest place in all of Britain to rest their weary selves and try to scrape together some sort of a plan for the future.

"Hermione, do you have a moment," Bill wondered aloud softly as he stepped forward off of the top step and turned towards the bathroom just as Hermione opened the door.

"Sure I guess," Hermione nervously answered as she did her best to smile at Bill before she then followed him down the stairs and towards the front door before the two stepped outside after Hermione gave Ron a reassuring smile.

"Well…how to put this…wanna take a walk," Bill asked softly as he held the door opened and looked more than a bit awkward and nervous as his ears took on a redder tint than usual, as Hermione remember how Ron's did the same when he got nervous or angry.

"I…I think so, I don't think that I can go very far yet," Hermione nodded slowly as she felt that she was feeling better since her arrival at Shell Cottage but she wasn't sure how long that good feeling would last, silently wishing that Ron could accompany her.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to go very far, it's just that there's something that we need to talk about, and don't worry I'm not going to ask you where you've been or where you're going, but it's important," Bill replied, holding out a hand to steady her as she crossed a loose bit of sand, before he straightened back up and brushed some hair off of his face. They then walked in silence except for the waves of the seas for a few moments before Hermione found the strength to speak again.

"Okay, but what did you want to talk to me about," Hermione wondered aloud as she stepped up behind one of the few trees by the shore, using it to break the wind so that it wasn't pushing right through her so much.

"It's about Ron," Bill commented as he tried to appear as if something wasn't bothering him but he could feel himself about to fail so instead he turned his gaze out towards the sea.

"Is something wrong, did something happen that I," Hermione exclaimed as loudly as she could as she made a few feeble steps away from the tree and towards Bill before she felt a bit weak and had to shuffle her way back to the tree for support.

"He's fine Hermione, now that he's back with you and Harry…heh…but honestly…I was beginning to get really worried about him before he left to find you," Bill quickly answered while putting his hands up in resignation in front of him in the hopes that Hermione would understand that she could calm down and that none of them were in any more immediate danger than they had been before they had left the house.

"What…why," Hermione asked, her voice full of both worry and confusion, as she then started to follow Bill towards a small clump of trees just a bit further back off of the beach.

"Ron…doesn't exactly do well with separation…truth be told none of the men in the Weasley family do well when we're separated from the one that we love, Dad with Mom, me with Fleur and…Ron with…," Bill admitted with hunched shoulders and a grim expression darkening his features as he stopped walking and stood in front of their destination, making sure to hide it from Hermione until just the right moment.

"Ron with…," Hermione mumbled out a bit loud to herself with a confused scrunching up of her face before Bill came to a stop and she could see his face fall and look very grave suddenly.

"I sorry to do this Hermione but this isn't exactly something that can be allowed to continue, and if there's anyone that can do something about it it's you," Bill stated with his head hung down so low that his chin hit his chest and to Hermione he appeared as if he were about to relay to her his deepest and darkest secret, something that needed to be kept just between the two of them, causing an unhappy chill to pass through her body.

"Me…but what am I supposed to be helping with…oh," Hermione murmured softly as she had to steel herself to look right at Bill before he stepped aside very reluctantly and she saw it, a large dark red stain on the bark of the tree with several small lines going down towards the ground. The stain looked to be high enough up on the tree that it would have been above Hermione's head if she stood up against the tree, right about at the height of Ron's shoulders.

"Yeah, and before you ask it's blood…and again it's not mine or Fluer's…it's Ron's blood," Bill explained all in a hurry with a deadly serious look to him as he only briefly glanced up at Hermione before it seemed that he couldn't stand to look at the tree anymore and turned away, hunching his back up against the breeze.

"Ron's…blood," Hermione mouthed out just loud enough for her and Bill to hear while looking like she was about to be sick at even the mere thought of it before Bill pressed on.

"Yeah…and don't bother asking me why I didn't clean it off…he did it so many times that I didn't see the point anymore…then he left so suddenly," Bill continued deliberately as he took a couple steps towards the sea and kicked a rock out of the way with his foot in frustration.

"B…but…how…why," Hermione inquired through gritted teeth as she forced herself to stand up straight and turn away from the tree, trying desperately to forever scrub it from her mind but finding the going a tough sled.

"It doesn't really take much thought really, he hated himself for leaving you and it didn't matter how many times I told him that he should stop moping and do something about it…try to find you guys, when he left I just thought that he'd finally taken my advice, not that I was happy about him just leaving out of the blue like that but…it all worked out in the end I guess," Bill answered as he turned his back to the beach and looked straight at her with a look of such certainty and concern that Hermione felt more than a little bit intimidated by the former curse breaker.

"But…but he, I…," Hermione nervously tried to get out even though her mind was whirling far faster than her mouth as she couldn't help but turn her head back and forth between the bloodstain on the tree and Bill's face as he seemed to not want to look her directly in the eye.

"First few days after he showed up…he was really messed up, I don't know how many times I had to put that damn mirror in the bathroom back together again after he punched it…by the time he left we were healing the scars on his knuckles with new scars…guess he couldn't stand to look at himself in the end…not that I blame him," Bill said with a deep breath as he looked very uneasy at both being made to remember the actions to which he was describing and to have to actually be telling Hermione about them as he walked up to her and stood right in front of her.

"Why," Hermione weakly asked even though she felt more like telling Bill not to tell her anything more about Ron's exploits before he had returned to them but the oldest Weasley brother had expected this and pressed on before she could say anything more.

"Well…he was like a caged animal, after he…left you guys…he had to stay here, he couldn't go home or to Hogwarts or anywhere like that and he couldn't tell us anything so he had to keep it all bottled up…and I think that you probably know by now some in my family…Ron particularly…aren't exactly always the best at handling our emotions…we bottle them up and then explode at the wrong time…yell at people…," Bill replied as he did his best to tell Hermione about Ron's actions while at the cottage without saying too much and embarrassing his youngest brother even further before he couldn't help but grin a little at the end.

"Truer words have never been spoken…but what am I supposed to do now," Hermione let out with a weak smile, one that she was glad that Bill returned if even for a moment, before her countenance grew more serious and she looked more than a bit confused and worried.

"Talk to him, if anybody can get through to him it's you," Bill answered directly as he then held out an arm for Hermione to take so that he could lead her back towards the cottage.

"What about Harry, he'd probably be better for this than me," Hermione offered up with a slightly optimistic and hopeful tone to her words as she thought for a few seconds that she'd found a way to pass the responsibility of talking to Ron off onto someone else…someone better. Though it wasn't because she didn't want to talk to Ron or didn't think that she'd be able to set him straight, it was more that her mind was still going a million miles a minute with all of the new information and she wanted more than anything to say exactly the right thing.

"No Hermione it has to be you, besides Harry's to wrapped up Dobby's death right now and besides…he's busy trying to help Dean keep Luna from bringing every single shell that she finds on the beach back into the house…look, I'll help you back to the house and then tell Ron that you want to talk to him, let's go," Bill responded with a very certain shrug of his shoulder as Hermione took his arm and let him leader her back towards the small cottage, hoping that inspiration would come to her before they got there.

"O…kay," Hermione slowly answered with her insides bubbling as she tried to keep her knees from wobbling while she could feel her eyes threatening to tear up just as the cottage came into view.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

The Beach-Minutes Later

She wasn't at all sure what she was going to say to him. In truth she was still trying to process what she'd just learned and yet still have time to come up with a compelling argument. She honestly hadn't given much thought of what Ron had been doing during their time away past having expected him to have either gone home or back to Hogwarts, and be well taken care of either place. Their trip to visit Xenophilius Lovegood's house had clued her in to where he really had been and she remembered how her anger at him had reduced somewhat at the revelation. The rest of it had gone completely as soon as she had come to her senses and after expecting her own death at Greyback's claws she instead had seen Fluer's worried face staring down at her. Fluer's face was then soon joined by Ron's, looking more than worse for wear with all of the bruises and cuts and scrapes, as she had suddenly felt very undeserving of the look of love in his eyes.

"You okay Hermione," Ron asked softly, clearly worried about her, as he strode out of the house and joined her next to the bottom of one of the bigger dunes so that they weren't being buffeted by the wind.

"No…why didn't you tell me," Hermione grouched back angrily as she balled her hands up into fists at her sides and stomped her foot at him, clearly showing him that she was not pleased.

"What," Ron answered looking more than a bit confused as he nervously shoved his hands into his pockets and started to stare down at his shoes, upset that his ears were probably already red.

"Why did you punch the bathroom mirror…and the tree…and why did I have to find out about it from Bill instead of you," Hermione spat at him with more than a fair amount of venom and fear in her words as she stomped up to him and grabbed the front of his coat tightly with her hands, making him look at her.

"Damn…," Ron let out with a guilty groan as he dropped his chin to his chest as he looked anywhere but at Hermione as he couldn't help but then ball his hands up into fists in his pockets as best that he could.

"Well," Hermione demanded loudly with a look of clear irritation furrowing her brow as she was hoping that she wouldn't have to dig the truth out of him.

"Looks like my big brother can't keep his big trap shut," Ron snarled while turning away from Hermione, ripping his coat from her hands and kicking at the sand though he didn't try and leave.

"And for good reason, but he shouldn't have been the one to tell me about all of this, you should have," Hermione declared strongly, feeling her voice starting to get more hoarse, as she walked in front of Ron and made a point of glaring at him right in the eye, almost daring him to push her aside.

"It doesn't matter now, it's behind me," Ron commented softly with a very serious scowl that hid his growing anxiety as he reached up and set his hands on Hermione's shoulders, being careful to not let their full weight come to rest on her alone.

"It does matter because if you're going to do it again then I need to know," Hermione stated sharply as she looked him right in the eye and then poked him in the chest with her finger harder than she had actually intended to.

"What…why," Ron muttered nervously with heavily furrowed brows as he struggled to try and figure out exactly what Hermione was getting at.

"So I can stop you," Hermione replied quickly in a very matter of fact and truthful tone, though from the look in her eyes Ron was sure that it wasn't a happy thought on her part just then.

"You don't have to worry about it Hermione…really, I won't do it again…I promise," Ron admitted honestly as truthfully he had absolutely no intention of ever do any of it again and hoped that she would believe him.

"I don't know if I can trust that promise Ron…why should I trust you now," Hermione snapped, a great deal more angrily and accusingly than she intended and her heart clenched in pain at the momentary look of fear in his eyes but she needed him to know how much his actions had affected her and for him to never even think of ever doing it again.

"Because…because…I have no other choice," Ron meekly shrugged back with a look of defeat and relenting on his face that only served to make Hermione's level of tension grow at how ambiguous his answer was.

"What does that even mean Ron," Hermione demanded angrily before she let out an impatient sigh and reached her hands up to rub her watery eyes as Ron found his voice.

"Let's be real Hermione, you're the brains here…you always have been, Harry's the great hope…he's the only one that can defeat…him, and me…well…if I can't even hold my own weight then what good am I to you and Harry, I couldn't even stop them from torturing you," Ron stated calmly but with a very clear tone of self-loathing and anger in his voice as he tried to keep his head down but Hermione reached her hands up under his chin and wouldn't let him.

"Don't…don't you dare think like that, it wasn't your fault Ron, look… Harry needs you, and I…," Hermione started to explain as slowly and deliberately as she could in the hopes that Ron would understand each and every word so that he'd know how much this all meant to her before he cut her off.

"You don't need me Hermione, I only cause you trouble," Ron told her point blank with a totally lost and defeated look in his eyes before Hermione had to bite her tongue to keep from openly crying at that moment.

"Wha…what if I like trouble," Hermione weakly answered with what she hoped was an almost cocky expression but she couldn't quite manage it fully and came off looking a little odd.

"Hermione," Ron questioned while looking a little confused and unsure of things before Hermione surprised him by pushing him back up against the nearest wall.

"No Ron…I was sick when Bill showed me that tree, don't ever scare me like that again, do you hear me," Hermione announced with a look of such force and certainty in her eyes that Ron knew that there was no real point of talking back to her but he felt that he had to at least make an attempt.

"It's not like I meant to do it, I hated myself when I left, now I'll die before I ever leave you again," Ron stated directly as he returned Hermione's honest look and was glad when she seemed to accept his words and not immediately get upset by them.

"Then I guess that means that you're stuck with me for the rest of your life…and I'm going to make sure that will be a very long time," Hermione snickered softly with a very proud and determined expression as she pushed herself up onto her tiptoes until her lips were just about to touch Ron's when instead she grinned and then hurried inside before he could utter a word.

"Bloody hell…what just happened," Ron muttered through a small groan and a rolling of his eyes before he shook his head and then followed inside after Hermione.

END OF WATCH HIM PLEASE

Author's Note: Just an idea that came to me, up to you all on whether or not I pulled it off. Ron in this story just got so mad at himself that he had to let his anger out and didn't find the best way to do it. I don't think that he'd continue to do this after he returned to Harry and Hermione. After recently watching Dawson's Creek again I noticed that Joey and Hermione and Ron and Pacey are a lot alike in many ways.


End file.
